Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

In this section you will find answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about HIV and/or hepatitis testing and the European Testing Week initative. If you have a question which hasn’t been addressed here, please contact us.

Where can I get tested?

Access to HIV and/or hepatitis testing varies from country to country, however, HIV and/or hepatitis tests are often offered by the following:

What is Testing Week?

Testing Week is an initiative that was launched by the EuroTEST initiative (originally named HIV in Europe) in 2013 to increase testing efforts and create awareness of the benefits of early HIV testing. Now in its seventh year and the fifth time hepatitis testing has been included, European Testing Week will take place in Spring (May) and Autumn (November) 2019.

European Testing Week offers partners across Europe the unique opportunity to unite to increase awareness of the benefits of early HIV and hepatitis testing among those who are at risk and promote increased access to testing. In 2018, more than 700 organisations from across 53 countries took part in Testing Week and thousands more people are now aware of their HIV and hepatitis status. Through united efforts, we hope that 2019 is an even greater success.

What are the aims of Testing Week?

The ultimate goal of European Testing Week is to increase efforts to make testing more accessible and communicate the benefits of earlier testing for hepatitis and HIV to reduce late diagnosis. The theme for this year’s testing week is Test. Treat. Prevent., with the aim of supporting ongoing dialogue between all partners in the HIV and hepatitis communities, in order to:

Encourage people who could be at risk of HIV or hepatitis to get tested

Encourage healthcare professionals to offer an HIV or hepatitis test as part of routine care in specific settings and conditions (in line with current European guidelines)

Support and unite community organisations to scale up access to HIV and hepatitis testing as far as possible and share lessons learned between countries

Make more government bodies aware of the individual, societal and economic benefits of HIV and hepatitis testing initiatives and how to evaluate testing practices.

Why is Testing Week needed?

Unmet need in HIV
Today, it is estimated that at least 25% of the 2.2 million people living with HIV in Europe are unaware that they are HIV positive. Half of those living with HIV are diagnosed late – which delays access to treatment. This means that many people are not being tested prior to symptoms emerging. This could be because there are barriers to requesting an HIV test, barriers to offering HIV tests, or barriers to the implementation of European HIV testing guidelines. This is despite the benefits of early HIV diagnosis and early access to treatment being well-documented. These statistics suggest that we need to be doing more to encourage individuals, who are unknowingly living with HIV, to take an HIV test and to better target people who could have been at risk for testing.

Unmet need in hepatitis
Hepatitis B and C are common among people at risk of and living with HIV. It is estimated that around 15 million people are living with hepatitis B in the WHO European Region; approximately 15–40% of those will develop cirrhosis, liver failure or hepatocellular carcinoma. 14 million people in the WHO European Region are living with hepatitis C; however, the majority of people with hepatitis C remain undiagnosed and only a small minority in Europe (3.5%) receive treatment. By encouraging people to become aware of their hepatitis status as soon as possible, people with hepatitis B can live healthily for a long a time with early treatment, and those with hepatitis C can be cured.

We hope that Testing Week provides you with a valuable platform to help promote and increase HIV and hepatitis testing.

Why is HIV and hepatitis testing important?

It’s better for people at risk of HIV and/ or hepatitis to know their status as soon as possible, because today people living with HIV and/or hepatitis can live healthily for a long time with early treatment, and those with hepatitis C can be cured.

When people are diagnosed with HIV and/or hepatitis late, they are less likely to respond well to treatment and more likely to have health and/or treatment-related complications.

Late presentation for HIV and hepatitis care is more costly for the healthcare system. Late diagnosis and delayed access to treatment are the most important factors associated with ongoing transmission of HIV and hepatitis, and preventable related illnesses and death.

Who is Testing Week for?

Testing Week relies on three core groups of partners to help ensure it achieves its aim:

Government bodies

Healthcare professionals

Non-governmental/civil society organisations

These partners may be active within the HIV and/or hepatitis fields or work with communities at an increased risk. These partners can help ensure promote HIV and hepatitis testing and timely access to treatment as a national priority.

These organisations throughout Europe join together for one week and pledge to increase testing efforts and awareness of HIV and/or hepatitis in order to help more people become aware of their status and decrease late diagnosis.

Testing Week provides an opportunity for organisations to increase testing efforts and highlight the importance of HIV/hepatitis testing for key populations.

Key populations for HIV testing
In terms of who should be accessing HIV testing, key populations at higher risk in Europe vary from country to country, but in general they include:

Men who have sex with men

People who inject drugs

Sex workers

Migrants (including persons originating from a high prevalence country) and mobile populations

Prisoners

Trans people

Key populations for hepatitis testing
The key populations at higher risk of hepatitis are the same as those for HIV, above. In addition, those at increased risk of living with undiagnosed hepatitis include:

People on long-term haemodialysis

People who have received blood, blood products or organs before screening for hepatitis C was implemented, or where screening is not yet widespread

Healthcare workers.

How is testing week organised and run?

EuroTEST manages Testing Week in close collaboration with the European Testing Week Working Group, which comprises civil society representatives, healthcare professionals and government bodies. The working group was established to provide ongoing advice and support on the Testing Week concept and materials.

The European Testing Week Working Group comprises representatives from the following organisations:

For further information on EuroTEST and for a full list of organisations who fund its work, visit www.eurotest.org

How is the impact of the European Testing Week evaluated?

The EuroTEST secretariat works closely with those who take participate to evaluate the success of European Testing Week. The evaluation will focus on how valuable the Testing Week platform and the associated materials are in helping scale up access to testing at a local level. This evaluation will be based on testing statistics and feedback from implementing partners.

The results of the Testing Week evaluation will be available on the website to be shared with those organisations who have signed-up to participate in testing week activities and other interested parties.

What does signing-up for European Testing Week mean? Is there a minimum expectation?

By signing-up to participate in European Testing Week, you are indicating that you intend to take action to contribute to achieving the aims of Testing Week to increase awareness of the benefits of hepatitis and HIV testing to increase the proportion of people who are aware of their HIV and/or hepatitis status.

Increasing access to testing and promoting awareness of the benefits of early testing helps to ensure more people become aware of their HIV and/or hepatitis status which can only happen with the support of partners like you. There is no minimum requirement for those who sign-up for Testing Week and it is entirely up to you to choose whether your local campaign will target HIV or hepatitis communities, or both, during Testing Week. There are lots of ideas for how you can get involved in the Get involved section of the site.

Lobby government bodies around the importance of improved access to HIV and/or hepatitis testing

Recruit other organisations to sign-up

Help to create a list of places in your country where individuals can access free, confidential and voluntary HIV and/or hepatitis tests

Engaging with HBV/HCV/HIV ambassadors or celebrities

Training/capacity building

Media campaigns and so much more!

Signing-up as a partner organisation also entails in contributing to the evaluation of the success of Testing Week. Partnering organisations are sent an online evaluation survey following Testing Week which on completion will help the HIV in Europe secretariat evaluate the value of the initiative in helping to reduce late HIV and/or hepatitis diagnosis; gather national and regional testing statistics; and measure website traffic and social media activity to get an idea of the coverage achieved by Testing Week.

Part of a healthcare professional association/hospital/clinic that wants to participate in Testing Week

A policy organisation that wants to participate in testing week

Can I sign up if my organisation is only able to offer HIV or hepatitis testing?

Yes – you may sign up if your organisation is only able to offer testing for HIV or hepatitis. It may be useful to partner with other local organisations, if possible, in order to offer testing services for both HIV and hepatitis, although this is not essential. It is also not essential to offer testing as part of testing week – arranging other activities that raise awareness or education are just as important.

I have signed-up but my organisation name is not yet listed on the website.

We have a process in place to review all submissions to the site. For this reason it may take some time for your organisation name to appear. If your organisation name has not appeared within two working days please contact us.

Is there any funding available to support participating partners?

Unfortunately, HIV in Europe is not in a position to offer any direct financial support to participating partners.

Instead, HIV in Europe would like to support you by offering a range of template materials, ideas for testing activities, a platform for sharing experiences and a condensed compilation of the evidence and European guidelines available on HIV and hepatitis testing. These can be found in the materials section of the website. There is also a fundraising toolkit available which provides ideas and guidance.

My country isn’t in Europe – can I still take part?

The 2018 Testing Week materials and supporting evidence have been tailored for European countries and key populations at higher risk. If any of the guidance toolkits are helpful and suitable for adaptation to support testing initiatives outside of Europe, please feel free to use them.

I don’t belong to a hepatitis, HIV or healthcare organisation but I want to show my personal support for Testing Week – what can I do?

If you would like to support European Testing Week, you may wish to contact organisations taking part in your country and ask them if they need support from volunteers.

Feel free to download our logo and use it to display on your website, social media accounts or other platforms to show your support!

You can also find out about Testing Week activities by following us on Twitter and Facebook.

What does it mean to endorse Testing Week?

By endorsing Testing Week you are making a public statement that you support Testing Week’s aim to increase HIV and/or hepatitis testing efforts and awareness to encourage more people to become aware of their HIV and/or hepatitis status.

If you agree to endorse Testing Week, your logo will appear on our website, contributing to the credibility of Testing Week and our aims.

European Testing Week has been endorsed by a number of pan-European organisations. If you are a member of a pan-European organisation and would like to endorse Testing Week, please get in touch.

What materials are available to support Testing Week activities?

Please visit Get involved for a full list of Testing Week materials for you to adapt and use, both in English and a number of other languages, along with guidance on how these materials should be used.

Can I change the Testing Week logo and edit the materials for my use?

We ask that you do not change the Testing Week logo so that we can ensure a distinctive and consistent brand across materials associated with European Testing Week.

However, all of the other materials are designed to support your local needs, so please feel free to adapt them for your use. Guidance on how to do this is contained in the relevant toolkits.

What steps are in place to ensure individuals who tested positive during Testing Week have access to care?

Unfortunately, not all countries implement a policy of ensuring timely access to free care and treatment for those who test positive for HIV and/or hepatitis. So as part of European Testing Week, we support implementing partners in ongoing efforts to lobby government bodies to employ healthcare policies that meet European guidelines, including access to treatment.

Testing Week endorses the following key guidelines on HIV and hepatitis testing and treatment:

World Health Organization. Scaling up HIV testing and counselling in the WHO European Region - as an essential component of efforts to achieve universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. Policy framework, 2010.

Sponsorship statement: The EuroTEST initiative is governed by an independent steering committee. The Coordinating Centre is at CHIP, RegionH, Copenhagen, and the political secretariat at the EATG. The conditions of funding the initiative are approved by the Steering Committee. Industry sponsors are invited to quarterly updates but do not participate in the Steering Committee.

Financial support of the EuroTEST initiative provided by: Abbott, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Danish National Research Foundation (grant 126), European Commission under the 3rd and 2nd Health Programmes, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Gilead Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Pfizer, Schering-Plough, Swedish Research Council, ViiV Healthcare and Tibotec.

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